“A madman, am I?”

Yuto’s twisted lips formed a cold arc. Snickering laughter struck the banquet hall’s lofty ceiling and shattered.

To the Black Mages, this land might be nothing more than a production facility for harvesting negative aether—a gold mine. But to Yuto, it was the last sanctuary that still held the warmth of those he had loved.

“You dare hold a feast in my castle without its master’s permission?”

The two hands of Void Touch wavering behind Yuto began merging with a grotesque grinding noise. Pitch-black darkness devoured itself and stretched out, then traced a deadly curve that swallowed even light, taking the shape of an enormous scythe.

The instant the scythe was complete, the Black Mages’ sneers abruptly ceased.

“Truly... an unfathomable ability. Answer my question, you mad little brat. Just which constellation have you made a contract with?”

The Black Mages were no strangers to sinister powers, yet the black scythe that had appeared behind Yuto was so ominous that even those wicked mages stiffened.

That was no magic. The Black Mages sensed it instinctively. It was not mere magic wrought by a human using aether, but a higher, superior power. In this world, such ‘divine authority’ could only be bestowed by a constellation.

“You have no intention of answering? Then I have no choice. I shall have to capture you and make you answer honestly.”

They had never intended to grant Yuto a painless death in the first place.

They had no idea where this reckless fool had come from or why he was doing this, but in less than half a day, he had destroyed all ten crystals installed throughout Belkain’s ruins. In the process, dozens of orc warriors they had gone to great lengths to borrow had died, most of the humans they used as lackeys had been killed, and more than a dozen of their fellow Black Mages had perished.

So long as Belkain remained a cursed land, they could simply install new crystals. But someone would have to pay in blood for these infuriating, staggering losses. Besides, this ‘business’ did not belong solely to the Black Mages—to Dark Star. Even Dark Star’s leader was merely an agent in this enterprise.

The Black Mages feared their leader’s wrath, but they feared the anger of the unknown mastermind behind all these schemes even more.

That was why they absolutely had to capture this lunatic. If they uncovered every truth about him and learned the source of that mysterious power, they would have an excuse for today’s losses.

Yes. As long as they killed this lunatic, the business would not fail. They could reinstall the crystals and hire mercenaries if necessary to replace the orc warriors. Humans to handle the menial work? They still had more than enough of those.

The Black Mages began floating into the air. The human-bone staffs in their hands emitted an ominous glow, and the will-o’-the-wisps drifting around them began to revolve in wavering circles.

WOOOO!

The magic circle drawn in blood on the floor pulsed, shaking the ground. A stench like burning, rotten corpses spread from it. Then crimson blood came surging out.

“Blood Bind!”

At the central Black Mage’s shout, dozens of chains erupted from the churning blood and rushed toward Yuto. These were not chains that merely restrained the body. The instant they touched him, all manner of curses would be etched into his flesh and soul.

Yuto stood motionless, glaring at the onrushing chains. The scythe rising behind him shuddered.

SCREEEE!

The darkness forming its blade vibrated, emitting a spine-chilling sound.

SHRASH!

The scythe cleaved the chains before they could reach him. The Black Mages’ eyes widened in horror. Those chains were meant to drive curses into anything they touched, yet the moment they met the scythe, every curse composing them was annihilated instead.

The Black Mages were no longer laughing. They were skilled, cunning spellcasters. Sharing their observations and assessments through telepathy, they voiced the danger that scythe posed.

“It isn’t canceling out magical power. That scythe destroys spells by severing the very aether structures that compose them.”

The Black Mages present were Dark Star’s elite, veterans of countless ordeals in the continent’s shadows. Their shock lasted only a moment. Soon, vicious determination filled their eyes.

As the aged leader at the center raised his staff, the airborne Black Mages scattered in unison and surrounded Yuto. A single exchange had been enough for them to see through the drawbacks of his divine authority.

The scythe was powerful, but its swings were correspondingly wide. That inevitably left an opening after each attack. Nor could a divine authority that powerful possibly be efficient in its use of aether. How much aether could a brat who looked barely fifteen possess? If they dragged out the battle, he would soon run dry.

“Spread out! Keep your distance and eat away at his soul! Until his power runs out!”

With each sweep of the Black Mages’ staffs, black filth poured like waterfalls from the will-o’-the-wisps drifting through the banquet hall. It was the concentrated essence of the contaminated aether harvested from Belkain’s ruins. Radiating a terrible evil, it swept toward Yuto and his companions.

ROOOOAR!

The marble floor melted beneath the black waves, giving off foul smoke. Yuto used Void Step to leap through space, while Flokiro bounded up onto a wall and ran along it with Levian on his back.

“What the hell is that?!”

The Black Mages’ leader cried out in astonishment. He could not begin to explain, in magical terms, how Yuto had just moved. Yet once again, his shock was short-lived.

“I will capture you, no matter what!”

Greed took the place of astonishment. He had no idea which constellation the boy had contracted with, but that divine authority was absurdly powerful and rare.

Another Black Mage located Yuto and relayed his position telepathically. The scattered mages immediately prepared their response.

“Veil of Silence!”

As three Black Mages chanted in unison, a sticky curtain of darkness formed on the wall Yuto was running along. His expression hardened, and he used Void Step once more.

This time, however, the Black Mages did not lose him. The aether they had secretly spread had already woven itself into a dense spiderweb throughout the entire banquet hall. The instant Yuto arrived at his destination, they detected him and swung their staffs.

KRA-BOOM!

Purple lightning erupted from the tips of their human-bone staffs and rushed toward Yuto. He swung Void Scythe again and cleaved the lightning, but as though they had been waiting for that response, crimson blood shot up from the floor in the shape of spikes.

KRAK-KRAK-KRAK!

Yuto thrust his obsidian dagger downward to parry them, but the onslaught hurled him through the air.

“Yuto!”

Clutching the mane of Flokai as he raced along the wall, Levian screamed Yuto’s name. She hurriedly waved her staff and chanted.

“Purifying Wind! Earthen Barrier!”

A refreshing breeze wrapped around Yuto, and a thick barrier of rock jutted from the wall to block the incoming magic arrows. Levian had somehow managed to protect him, but her face had gone deathly pale.

Prodigy of Maria Academy though she was, providing support against ten of Dark Star’s elite at once was far too cruel a demand. In particular, the sinister aether filling the banquet hall, along with the Black Mages’ wicked spells and curses, gnawed away at her mental strength and aether merely by her being there.

“Kraaah!”

Flokai sprang from the wall and pounced on a nearby Black Mage, but these enemies were cunning in the extreme. As though he had anticipated the attack, the Black Mage concealed himself in black mist.

KRRRAK!

In place of the vanished mage, an undead golem stitched together from rotting corpses sprang out.

CRUNCH!

The instant Flokai’s teeth sank into its torso, the undead golem exploded like a bomb with a loud bang.

“Graaaow?!”

The explosion engulfed Flokai. The pure-white flames surrounding him blunted its force, but the rotten flesh and poison that had entered his mouth sent his vision reeling.

“P-purifying... Purifying Dew! Purifying Dew!”

Flattened against Flokai’s back, Levian chanted between gasps. Blue droplets fell one by one and seeped into his body, driving out the poison.

“Heh heh heh. Marigold girl, you are quite skilled at magic for your age.”

“We have no intention of killing you as well. Surrender and beg for your life, and we shall show mercy and spare you. Taking you hostage and extracting a ransom from House Marigold will be worth more than killing you, bitch.”

The Black Mages snickered as they drifted through the darkness like ghosts. At their words, Levian bit down hard on her lip and glared at them.

Everything around her was utterly terrifying, but she had no desire to submit to those evil mages. Her cool reason also saw straight through them: people who exploited the restless spirits of Belkain’s countless dead citizens would never keep a promise.

By now, scarcely any part of the banquet hall’s floor still deserved to be called a floor. Blood gushing from the magic circle spread in a sticky layer, giving off a horrific stench.

Above it, the Black Mages burst into laughter again.

“You mad little brat. Did you say you were this castle’s master? Look! See how filthy your castle has become!”

Yuto did not reply. Landing on an intact patch of floor that the mire had yet to consume, he clutched his chest and stood motionless for a time.

“What, whelp? Given up already?!”

“It’s not too late to get on your knees and beg for your life!”

The Black Mages mocked him loudly. Listening to it all, Yuto lifted a hand and clutched his chest. His ragged breathing lingered beneath their sneers.

Yuto gritted his teeth. The restless spirits who had died after being toyed with by the constellations. The remnants of his homeland, still trampled by the constellations and exploited by the Black Mages. They ate away at his reason.

“Shut... up...”

At Yuto’s low mutter, the Black Mages’ laughter stopped.

“What was that, whelp? Have you gone mad with terror?”

The leader in the central magic circle adjusted his grip on his staff and gave a nasty smile. Seeing the scythe behind Yuto waver, he was certain the boy’s aether was beginning to run out.

“I asked what you were babbling about, whelp. Can you not hear—”

“I said shut up, you verminous bastard.”

Yuto raised his head. The whites of his eyes were no longer visible. His entire eyes had become pitch-black abysses that swallowed even light. Rather than mere anger, it was as though something that should not exist in this world was about to descend upon it.

SCREEEEE!

Void Scythe rose behind Yuto and began to swell, vibrating unnaturally. The Black Mages’ assessment had been correct. Although he had replenished his aether with a potion earlier, it was rapidly drying up in the battle within the banquet hall.

What the Black Mages had misjudged, however, was the source of Yuto’s power.

Aether was not all he possessed.